My favorite bridge – the Headquarters Road Bridge in Upper
Bucks County, Pennsylvania – has to defend itself in court. The Delaware Riverkeeper (my client in
this affair) is suing FHWA and PennDOT to prevent them from demolishing this
200-year-old one-lane bridge, which sits at the heart of a rural historical
district, to replace it with a modern, two-lane structure. It’s sad to think that the future of
this beloved little bridge couldn’t be determined through real collaborative
planning. Or at least it hasn’t
happened yet.
My thoughts are summed up in the quote I did for the press
release:
“This is a land of narrow, winding, country roads and
one-lane bridges that are well-suited to the scenic, rural character of the
place. A two-lane bridge here – at
the heart of the Ridge Valley Rural Historic District – is both unnecessary and
out of place. I’m also concerned
that building a two-lane bridge here will cause new safety problems by
encouraging higher speeds and more truck traffic in an area where you don’t
want to see those things.”
Press account here.
(Photo courtesy of the Delaware Riverkeeper)
No comments:
Post a Comment